


That Three Letter Word

by Vex_ation



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:08:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25650355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vex_ation/pseuds/Vex_ation
Summary: Pearl discovers a simple truth that makes everything much more complicated.
Relationships: Diamond & Pearl (Pokemon Adventures)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 31





	That Three Letter Word

At age 10, he thought he felt the way everyone was supposed to feel.  
He had a best friend who he adored, a dad he loved (even if he wasn’t around super often), hobbies, pokemon, and a quaint little town to run around in and play. He and Diamond were focused on their dream and were basically inseparable. And so Pearl never thought about romance, because why would he? He had his Manzai partner by his side and dreams to chase, so kissing and dating and everything else didn’t seem like something he should be worrying about. He got to gag occasionally about the silliness of rom coms, but that was typical— rom coms weren’t realistic. And so Pearl thought everything was as it should be, until of course she came along.  
She was an upheaval of everything Pearl thought was normal. He didn’t like her at first, admittedly, because he didn’t know what to think about her. She was strange, a third member weaseling into their duo. She was rude, a little snotty, and most importantly, she made Diamond act weird. He would stare at her in awe and just whisper about her grace and princess-like appearance. Pearl didn’t understand even after she began the missing piece to complete their trio. Perhaps that should’ve been his first clue. 

At age 14, Pearl began to have his doubts. He figured he would understand Diamond’s infatuation with Platinum’s regality eventually, but it never came. He loved Platinum, she was his best friend (along with Diamond, of course), but he hadn’t ever really looked at her and been so enamored with her. She was obviously pretty, he wasn’t blind, but there was a disconnect in the way that he and Diamond looked at her. At this point, it would be foolish to pretend, so Pearl just treated her like he always had.   
The thing that messed everything up was Diamond’s cooking videos. He liked to watch them on his phone, occasionally hooking it up to the big tv in Platinum’s living room to watch it in the evenings. Despite the fact that he knew these recipes— and, as Pearl would attest, was a far better chef than this hack of a host— Diamond continued watching. One day, Pearl asked him why.   
“I like the host. She’s pretty,” Diamond replied. “Plus her Stunky is adorable.”  
Pearl didn’t see the appeal, but the same confusion crept into his mind. Diamond saw these ladies and would just be able to stare at them all day. Sometimes, he would just watch Platinum read and sigh fondly. Pearl couldn’t imagine anything more boring, and he had to wonder what in the world Diamond was thinking.  
He always assumed it was a family thing. He was just raised around men— his mom was gone for as long as he could remember, so men were the only comparison he had. Even comedy was mostly male-dominated. It was only natural he didn’t understand how other people like Diamond would feel about women. He just needed a little bit more time to understand. 

At age 16, he realized that understanding wasn’t coming. He saw guys his age go absolutely girl-Crazy, and people he met at comedy events would chat about the cute girls in the audience. Pearl tried to join in, but he found quickly that his heart wasn’t in it. It wasn’t just Diamond anymore, it was everyone. Everyone seemed to have this magic flip switch in their brain when they looked at girls that made them stare and drool and consumed their every waking thought. For the first time in his life, Pearl realized that he was the odd one out. He wasn’t feeling the connection. He just didn’t feel these warm fuzzy feelings that everyone went on and on about. So maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t attracted to women. The thought didn’t bother him— comedy was his first love, so he would focus on that dream while everyone else was tripping over themselves trying to catch a girl.  
Then, of course, Diamond came to mess things up. They were picnicking in the park and Pearl was, for once, all out of sketch ideas. He leaned back and relaxed, just watching the scenery. Diamond was sleeping a few feet away, so Pearl just watched the rise and fall of his chest. Sitting there in the summer sun, he felt like he could sit like this for hours, just captivated by his steady breathing and the smile on his face. He couldn’t imagine a life without him, and the prospect of spending every moment with Diamond by his side made Pearl’s stomach flutter with a million butterflies. He felt like he could lose track of time, watch the world fall away and not care as long as they were together.  
Pearl realized with a start exactly what was happening. This was beyond the boundaries of best friend— this was a crush. This was love. Pearl felt the same way about Diamond that Diamond felt about Platinum. Pearl felt the same way about men as most guys felt about women. The realization sent chills up his spine. His palms were sweating.  
What the fuck was he going to do now?

At age 17, Pearl was a wreck. He wasn’t sure exactly why or what happened, but ever since he made the realization that he had a crush on his best friend, he couldn’t seem to get things to go back to normal. Did Diamond... know? Was he somehow subtly dropping clues even he wasn’t aware? Was he acting normal around Diamond, the way he did before? How DID he act before? Had he always acted differently, was there always a romantic undertone to their friendship that Pearl was blind to?   
And if Diamond didn’t know and somehow found out, what then? Would things get weird, would he ruin their friendship? Would Diamond even want to be friends anymore?  
No, that was ridiculous. Diamond loved everyone, of course he still would want to be friends. Still though, this realization made everything so awkward. Plus, he didn’t know his dad well enough to know how he’d react. Everything was so up in the air, and Pearl couldn’t look at their stances to know what they would do. It felt like walking on a a tightrope, and in the end there was no good way to go about it. There was no way to tell how things would end up, and Pearl was not one for emotional leaps of faith like this.   
He had a better plan. He would bottle up his feelings, way deep down inside, and then one day he would die. It was simple and effective and had no possibility of failure. Diamond didn’t have to know, Palmer didn’t have to know. No one had to know.  
Sometimes though, he wished he could tell them. He must’ve visited the website about a hundred times, but something about reading the words “Jubilife Pride Parade” made his heart skip a beat. The idea of meeting people he could ask for advice, for help, or even just relate to on such a superficial level sounded like a dream. He thought about taking Diamond and Platinum, since he intended to spend the rest of his life with them whether they were romantically involved or not. But taking them was a gamble, one Pearl wasn’t quite ready to take. Like the rest of his complicated feelings, he tucked the tab away. He left it bookmarked.   
Just in case he changed his mind. 

At age 18, Diamond turned everything topsy-turvy, because if there was one thing Diamond was good at it was catching Pearl off guard. He didn’t mention it at first, but Pearl locked onto it immediately. On Diamond’s wrist was a bracelet, one with familiar stripes. Pearl didn’t want to get his hopes up, but a little piece of him saw that purple, blue, and pink color scheme and realized he wasn’t a lose cause. He had a chance. And maybe, just maybe, it meant Diamond would understand.   
When he walked up to Diamond, unable to meet Diamond’s curious gaze, he felt like he was back in Celestic Town. Diamond was an enigma, and it was impossible to tell what was brewing in his mind under that easy smile. Just like then, he had no idea how Diamond would react, whether or not he would ruin their friendship with what he said, and unable to see the bottom of the emotional cliff he was about to jump off of. But just like then, there was no more hiding.  
And so Pearl told him, even though was scared and tears were threatening to spill.   
“Cool,” Diamond said. “Thanks for telling me.”  
That was it. Of course that was it. Diamond somehow managed to take one of the most nervewracking moments of Pearl’s life and respond with ‘cool’. Pearl fidgeted in place.   
“This doesn’t make things weird?” he asked, his throat dry. Diamond cocked his head.  
“No, did you think it would?”  
“... a little,” he admitted. “I thought you were straight and everything would be awkward.”  
“Who else knows?”  
“Just you.”  
“How long were you waiting to tell me?”  
“A year and a half.”  
Diamond deflated, his shoulders slumping as he frowned, ever so slightly. He didn’t look mad though, just... upset. He leaned forward, Pearl leaning back so as to give him his personal space, and suddenly Diamond was hugging him.   
“That sounds awful, I’m sorry you thought you had to keep it a secret. If you didn’t know it then, I need to make you know it now. I love you no matter what.”  
Pearl didn’t mean to, but he started to cry, not because he was surprised or upset or relieved, but because for the first time he realized that no matter what happened next, everything would be fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Platinum, three years later: This is my boyfriend Diamond and this is Diamond's boyfriend Pearl


End file.
